Electronics

[sallyann38]

STILLRAINING....I did what you said and it worked.  What I did before did not delete everything.  Thank you so much, you saved the day.

I want to thank everyone who took the time to answer my help message  This has to be the best place to come to when you need help with ANYTHINg.

[Kachina624]

Before you restore your iPad to its factory setting, it's very important that you back up everything you want to keep.  I restored mine several years ago with @dooBdoo 's help.  It worked out fine and was simple to do.

[AngelPuppy1]

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@gardenman wrote:

Apple has their official Apple Support Community where you can often get good answers to problems with Apple devices. And Apple devices, like all electronics, have lots of issues. Whatever problem you're having, someone else likely is having also or has had and found a solution. Here's a link to their support forums: https://discussions.apple.com/welcome 

It's a good place to go for help with issues you can't fix on your own. Like all forums, it will have helpful people and jerks. Just ignore the jerks and harvest the helpful advice.

Apple Stores, at least those in this area, get pretty bad Yelp reviews. Lots and lots of one-star reviews and a few five-star reviews, so going to a store may not be a great boon to you depending on the quality of the staff at the store you visit. Apple Stores, at least locally and there are five within 40 miles of me, average around 3-stars and lots of people have lots of problems with the stores and the staff manning the stores. People like to talk about the stores like they're heaven staffed with angels, but many customers have very unpleasant experiences at the stores. 

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@gardenman 

I agree with what you said about the Apple Stores.  I know they are not all the same.  I am sure there are good ones as well as bad ones.  The one nearest me, which is about an hour away, is so, so busy, it's terrible.  They seem only interested in making sales.  They are very impatient and abrupt with you if you come in with issues or questions.  I never really got any good help from them there.  I have had much better treatment and help from calling.  No--- the people at the Apple store were definitely not angels!!!! 

[gardenman]

@AngelPuppy1 

I'm sure there are good Apple stores, but the ones near me get pretty bad reviews. If you make a big trip expecting help, you might end up with no help and be very disappointed.

In general, Apple is not the most customer friendly business. They will occasionally refuse to repair a device. Linus of Linus Tech Tips damaged an Apple computer while they took it apart to see how it's made, and Apple refused to repair it. Linus was willing to pay to have it fixed and Apple just refused to fix it. They also make it nearly impossible for independent repair shops to get parts. Repair shops have to buy/get used/broken devices to harvest parts to use on other devices. There have been multiple stories of their Genius Bar insisting very expensive repairs were necessary when the problem was something fairly trivial. They just go out of their way to make life harder for their customers than it needs to be.

Apple became annoyed when independent repair shops were replacing the parts on their devices, so they started adding a serial number to the parts and the serial number had to match for the device to work. Initially, only Apple had the ability to read the serial number and then transfer it to the new part. It took a while but eventually readers became available for the indepedent repair shops so they could replace parts again. Apple insists they lose money on repairs, but if that was true they should welcome independent shops doing the repairs, but they try to make it nearly impossible for the independent shops.

Apple is an interesting company that does some pretty questionable stuff. Their belief in absolute control over everything is a bit excessive to some of us. I always find it laughable that the EU is constantly attacking Microsoft for antitrust violations while Apple largely does things that are much worse, but skates by.

[AngelPuppy1]

@gardenman 

I agree with you so much.  They have really upset me a number of times!  A great product I think, but if you do not want to give the support and service needed, then that negates a lot of the superior quality of the products.  After all, their items are not cheap! 

I am going to have to purchase a new computer directly as my old IMac is very old and starting to get cranky.  I thought I was convinced that I would get a new one of these but now I am not so sure.  You seem very knowledgeable regarding same, and I am wondering, do you have any suggestions? I don't need anything really fancy as I am retired and just do very basic things.  I have a small tablet but don't care for it.  I have always had a desktop and felt they were easy to deal with.  

[gardenman]

@AngelPuppy1 

For basic computing use you have nearly endless options. You could go with a Windows desktop. I can't really recommend a brand as I build my own computers rather than buy a prebuilt one. There are even stick computers these days that plug into the HDMI port on a monitor/HDTV for basic users. Small form factor computers are made for both Windows and the Chrome operating systems. Since you've been using an all-in-one computer with an iMac you might want to look at another AIO. Otherwise you'll need to buy a monitor. 

Refurbished computers are often a great deal for basic users. Here's a pretty nice option at Amazon for $89 that gets good reviews. refurbished computer 

It's got a clean install of Windows 10, 8 gbs of Ram and a 500 gb hard drive. Refurbers will typically slap in a new hard drive on refurbs (which typically come from businesses that lease computers rather than buy them) because it's faster, easier, safer to throw in a fresh drive than erase a used one. The refurbs typically come with a ninety day to one year warranty and are a bargain for "typical" users. You'd still need to add a monitor, but they're readily available at good prices. For about $200 in total you can put together a very competent little computer/monitor that will handle basic computing tasks with ease. Companies leasing computers often get hundreds, in some case thousands, of used computers returned that they have to do something with. They've typically made back their cost and more, so the used computers get sold (or given) to a refurber who pops in a clean hard drive, a new copy of Windows, and sells them cheap.

[AngelPuppy1]

@gardenman 

Oh, goodness -- can't imagine building a computer!  That's wonderful!  Too much for me!  LOL.  I really don't want something refurbished, though it sounds like this would be so much cheaper.  I want to get something which though more expensive would last longer. I am not a pro with my computer, that's for sure, but at least I have a bit of familiarty with it, so perhaps I should try another one of these.  I just am up in the air!  It's a big decision.  I thank you for your suggestions and I really appreciate your reply!!!  

[gardenman]

@AngelPuppy1 

"I want to get something which though more expensive would last longer."

This is where things get tricky. the reason most people replace a computer is because it becomes obsolete and can't be updated to the newest OS. If you believe Microsoft, Windows 10 is their last OS. A computer that runs it now, shouldn't become obsolete. (At least not for the foreseeable future.) And even if it does become obsolete, it won't be for several years and at a price point of $89 for the computer, it makes it pretty affordable to replace it. But hey, if you want something new, I don't blame you.

As to building a computer, building a computer is very easy. Picking the parts to use can drive you slightly insane, but putting them together into a computer is pretty much like assembling Legos. The CPU just sits in its socket. You just have to line it up the right way, then clamp it down. The CPU cooler clamps on pretty easily and typically comes with the thermal paste already applied. Memory just slides into its slots. Everything else just more or less plugs into the motherboard.

Picking the parts is the hard part. There's always a slightly better part that's "just a few dollars more." Of course, then there's another part that's slightly better than that for just a few dollars more again. It's pretty easy to fall into the trap of going way over your budget and ending up with a very expensive build by constantly getting the part that's just a bit better and only a few dollars more. 

For my use, I tend to put a cap on parts of $100 for the big things (motherboard, CPU, GPU). I don't need anything terribly cutting edge for my use, so I try to stick to that budget range and only pick components with a four or five-star rating. You can pretty easily spend $1,000 or more on the motherboard if you want to and up to thousands on the CPU. But, for what I use a computer for, I don't need that. (On the lunatic fringe edge of computing you could go for a fully outfitted Mac Pro at over $53,000. Yikes!)

One of the neat things with computers is how quickly prices fall. A CPU that's $3990 today (the newest AMD Ryzen Threadripper) will be $500 in a couple of years and in four years will likely be under $100. I don't mind waiting four years to get a nearly $4,000 CPU for $100. The same is true for graphics cards. Cards that were state of the art five years ago and cost $1,000 are now considered obsolete but still being made and sell for under $100.

The advantage of building a computer yourself is that you can reuse the things that aren't obsolete on your old computer when it's time for a new one. Things like keyboards, mice, optical drives, hard drives, the case, power supply and more often don't need to be changed. When people buy a new computer they're typically throwing away a hundred dollars or more of stuff that's perfectly good. That's what motivated me to build my first computer. I got tired of throwing away so many good things and paying for them all over again. By reusing still functional components I save myself money and it's better for the planet.

[Nuttmeg]

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@AngelPuppy1 wrote:

@gardenman 

I agree with you so much.  They have really upset me a number of times!  A great product I think, but if you do not want to give the support and service needed, then that negates a lot of the superior quality of the products.  After all, their items are not cheap! 

I am going to have to purchase a new computer directly as my old IMac is very old and starting to get cranky.  I thought I was convinced that I would get a new one of these but now I am not so sure.  You seem very knowledgeable regarding same, and I am wondering, do you have any suggestions? I don't need anything really fancy as I am retired and just do very basic things.  I have a small tablet but don't care for it.  I have always had a desktop and felt they were easy to deal with.  

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@AngelPuppy1 

I buy Dell XPS desktops . A  new desktop is the 8930 running the Intel i5-9400 processor.  A basic system would do fine with 8 GB of RAM, a 2 GB video card, 1TB hard

drive, and a DVD burner. 

Dell has a nice tool to help customers build a CPU online. 

The company includes in the sale, one year of McAfee live safe anti-virus software and a one year in home warranty.

I buy ultra sharp monitors, and the U2415 should work well with the video card in your tower. 

Some monitors come with a 3 year advance  replacement warranty. You can see the warranty terms when you place the item in the shopping cart. 

Last FYI, I always buy a tower one day and monitor the next . When you buy  the items together they  would receive  a one year CPU contract .and two items separately each  have their own warranties. 

Enjoy your new computer, Apple or Dell

[Lilysmom]

@gardenman @AngelPuppy1 , some times staff can be condescending.  It depends who you get.  I had issues with my MacBook Pro which cost me close to $2000 Cdn.  I found them very difficult to deal with.  Still under warranty.  I said fine, I am going to small claims court if this is not resolved.  Not a threat, I was serious.  Then they addressed the issue.  Maddening isn't it?  LM